A novel solution: free food

In a world of abundance there’s no sound argument for not providing all necessities to everyone at no cost to them. There’s also no sound argument for not providing those who “make things happen” what they need without requiring them to pay for it. All that’s needed is a way to distribute resources in a way everyone agrees is fair.

Sounds easy, right?

Well, it is, in theory. We’re working on making it so in practice too.

There are many reasons why designing such a system is desirable. We call this the “benefit of free”.

By “free” we mean anyone can access a given good or service without having to “pay” the provider in return for the good or service. In other words, there’s no direct financial transaction where the provider receives financial benefit (income) from the person receiving the good.

Free food: a powerful ingredient for change

What would happen, for example, if food was available to all at no cost to them? Poor families would no longer need to choose between putting food on the table and spending their money on other important things. Poor people – and those who aren’t poor – wouldn’t have to work as many hours to make ends meet. That freed up time could be used to pursue activities more productive for the individual and society than flipping burgers, waiting tables, serving coffee, selling something, or manufacturing something.

Imagine millions of people working less, or better, spending their freed-up working time pursuing activities they are excited about. What could result from that?

With food provided to all at no cost, “hunger” would become a thing of the past. Yes, in many cases food distribution plays a part in the hunger problem, but in an era of “free”, distribution no longer is a problem. With hunger eradicated, all the people, resources and energy dedicated to “eradicate hunger” would be freed up and available for other things. This represents millions of smart people, billions in physical assets (trucks, office spaces, computer capacity, internet bandwidth and other societal assets) available for other things.

Imagine! With hunger solved, a prime challenge in education is tackled too: kids arriving at school hungry. People working in education running free and reduced lunch programs are now freed up in the same way people working to eradicate hunger were. Hunger impacts many aspects of our daily life. With hunger solved, we simultaneously solve many other problems. Can you thin of some other ones?

What will people do?

What would all these people who are now “freed up” do?

It’s a question we as a civilization are going to have to answer sooner or later as more and more jobs are eliminated. Our answer is this: they will purse things that light their fire. What that looks like is different for each person. But we know this: when a person identifies, then pursues, that one thing that really excites them, amazing things result. Every invention known to man resulted from a human being pursuing something that inspired them.

In our opinion, those results are not only worthwhile, they are life-giving. Not just for society, but for the individual pursuing the goal. We live with a notion that that says not everyone can live life doing things that light them up.

Don’t believe the notion.

We’re creating a new reality where it is possible – preferable even – for every human to do things that light them up. To us, it’s the only way to live. Anything else is just not worth it.